CyberCertPrepSecurity FundamentalsCryptography FundamentalsEASYFree question
What is the primary purpose of a hash function in cryptography?
- A.A. To encrypt data for confidentiality
- B.B. To create a fixed-size fingerprint of data for integrity verification
- C.C. To exchange keys securely
- D.D. To digitally sign documents
Why B is correct
A cryptographic hash function takes input of any size and produces a fixed-size output (digest/fingerprint). It is used to verify data integrity - any change to the input produces a completely different hash. Hash functions are one-way: you cannot derive the original data from the hash.
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